Camping
by avatla
Summary: Oneshot. Katara, Yue, Aang, Sokka, and Zuko go camping for the weekend! Katara and Yue are excited to spend time with their crushes, although Yue is unsure of how Zuko feels. Kataang. Zue. Awkward Sokka.


hrough her bathroom drawer, glancing up to check the wall clock every so often. She slammed the vanity drawer shut and dropper to her knees in the middle of the grand, whitewashed, regal bathroom, and began to dig around under the sink. Katara would be here any minute, and Yue had yet to find her inhaler. She always left it in the bathroom…

Katara had pulled up to the house, and pressed her hand over the steering wheel's horn, alerting to Yue that she had arrived. Defeated, Yue jogged into her bedroom and grabbed her duffle bag, slinging it over her shoulder and clattering down the stairs in her riding boots.

"Dad, Katara's here! I'll see you Sunday!"

"Okay," Her father called from the office, "Be careful! Love you!"

"You too!" Yue called before she bolted out of the house, grinning. The fragrantly chilled October air invigorated her senses, and her skin pinked in the cool temperature. Yue approached Katara's Camry and waited for the trunk to pop. She stuffed her bag into the car and circled around to the front, sitting down in the passenger seat.

"Hey!" Katara said, leaning over and hugging her best friend, "Are we set?"

Yue nodded, enthusiastically as the car pulled out of the driveway. "This is so exciting," Yue mused, clasping her hands together.

"It will be if the weather's good," Katara said; glancing at the clear, blue sky. "When's the last time you went camping, anyways?"

Yue thought about it, "Maybe… ten years ago? And does sleeping in a cabin on a campsite _count_ as camping?"

Katara snorted, shaking her head. "I'm afraid not… Tent camping is fun though. Dad always used to take us as kids, but now it's up to me to get Sokka to come. Dad's too busy now, anyways…"

Yue bit her lip, smiling, "And Aang's coming?"

Katara blushed, eyes locked on the road, "Yeah… Zuko's coming too, you know."

Yue's grin only widened, and she laughed a bit, "Good to know…"

Katara gave her friend a quizzical look, "What's going on between you and him anyways? Are you an item or…?"

Yue let her smile fade a bit and she thought for a moment. "I… I don't know. We don't exactly… talk about stuff like that when we hang out."

"Well, then what _do_ you guys talk about?" Katara asked, dubious.

Yue shrugged, "School, people, music… We don't go over the details of our…relationship."

"But you've kissed?" Katara asked.

Yue nodded, a tiny smile appearing.

"More than once?"

"Yes…" Yue replied, looking down and smiling moreso.

"And has he told you that he has feelings for you?"

Yue paused. "Not… not exactly. No."

Katara gave her friend a soft, reassuring smile, "Try and talk to him this weekend, okay?"

"Okay," Yue said, brightening a bit.

"Isn't this great, Sokka? Zuko do you remember when we did boy scouts together? It'll be just like that!" Aang said brightly, his face nearly pressed to the window as he watched the campsite, aflame with autumn's colors, pass by.

"Hmm," Zuko mumbled, not bothering to take out his headphones while lying across the backseat.

Sokka clapped Aang across the shoulder, "It's good to know you're excited, Aang. Just stay out of Katara's tent, and we'll have fun."

Aang rubbed a hand through his messy hair, laughing nervously to himself.

"Katara told me that we'd be camping by the lake…" Sokka said, averting his attention to the map of the campgrounds they'd picked up earlier. "Closest to the walking trails…"

Yue held her and Katara's tent up by the connecting pieces at the very top, willing their makeshift home to stay upright. Katara had been helping Aang with their dinner, and Yue was put in charge of pitching their tent. She hadn't spoken more than ten words to Zuko, and she glanced at him, hauling things out of Sokka's car.

She lost her grip of the tent and stumbled forwards, crushing the tent inwards with her knees. She swore quietly under her breath and scrambled to her feet. The tent was reduced to a pile of shiny fabric and white, plastic tubes. Square one.

Suddenly, Zuko was besides her, gathering up the pieces and staring straight at her. "I'm guessing you need help," He said, smirking the smallest bit.

Yue flushed all over, "If… if you wouldn't mind."

"I don't," He replied and began to set up the mess. Yue watched him for a minute or two, not knowing what to do.

In less than five minutes, her work was completed by Zuko. He offered her one of his small, barely-there, unusual smiles and she felt her stomach flip. She offered him a weary smile back.

"Thanks," Yue murmured, not looking back at the tent.

"Your welcome," Zuko replied, nodding to her.

Aang laughed as he stuggled to open the can of beans, paying far much more attention to Katara than making dinner for his friends. Katara snatched the aluminum can away from him, smiling, and opened it with seemingly a flick of the wrist. She stuck her tongue out at him and plucked his orange baseball cap from his head, haphazardously placing it on her own.

"Hey!" Aang said, chasing her to the other side of the wooden picnic table, nearly tackling her. He leaned over her as she jokingly averted his hands, nearly lying on the table. Aang blushed as he realized how close he was to her, looming over her as she laughed, hand protectively clamped over the hat. Aang's blush deepened and he sprung back from her, offering her a hand to stand upright once more.

Katara wiped her eyes, clearing away the small tears of laughter that had formed. She cleared her throat, standing back on her feet again, smiling flirtatiously back up at him. She had never noticed how much taller he was than her- it had never been like that a few years ago. He had to be a little over six feet tall now, beating her by seven inches, height wise.

Yue sat, sandwiched between Katara and Zuko, as they all huddled around the campfire, wanting to absorb its warmth.

Sokka was already sleeping, tired from a day's work of trying to set a deer trap, despite Katara's reassurance that they had enough food.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Zuko asked, turning to Yue, "Just around the lake?"

"Sure," Yue replied, standing up and walking off behind him. Katara smiled at her friend before snuggling closer to Aang, sighing as she rested her head against his shoulder.

Yue pushed her white hair over her shoulders as she walked with Zuko. He was standing so close to her, his hand dangling next to hers. Yue let her fingers brush against his, and he caught her hand in his own. Yue intertwined her fingers in his, and she gazed up at him, seeing that he had been staring down at her.

Zuko stopped walking and turned to face her. Yue gave him a smile smile coupled with a raging blush. Zuko lent down and pressed his lips against hers, feeling her gasp slightly. Zuko ducked his head down as she wound her arms around his neck. His grip on her waist was dizzying, and she felt him groan against her lips as she entered his mouth. Zuko deepened the kiss and lead her down into the sand.

Yue sighed as she felt Zuko press his lips against her neck. She pushed his light jacket off of his shoulders once she felt his teeth graze over the tender flesh. His lips returned to hers as she felt him slide his hands under her shirt, and she gripped his back, kissing him back willfully. She felt his hands tug at the bottom of her shirt, and she broke her lips from his. "Zuko... Zuko, wait."

Zuko opened his eyes quickly as he felt her pull away. "Sorry... Did I hurt you?" He retrieved his hands out from under her shirt, resting them next to her body in the sand.

Yue shook her head. "Zuko... I need to know. Do you love me?"

Zuko paused. Did he? He had only been seeing her for a few months, but he had never felt so strongly about someone before.

Yue counted the seconds as the silence between them grew. Two. Five. Ten... Tears welled up in her eyes and she pushed him off of her, getting to her feet and briskly walking back to camp. The daunting silence followed her all the way.

Aang and Katara weren't by the fire when she returned. She half expected them to be off somewhere, getting farther than she and Zuko would have and being completely happy about it. As she entered her tent, she was surprised to see that Katara was fast asleep in her sleeping bag. Yue dusted the sand off of her hair and back, and removed her shoes and jeans. She got into her sleeping back, and let the tears spill past her eyes and down the sides of her face. All she wanted was Zuko, and apparently, that was too much to ask for.

* * *

Katara woke up to a light tapping against the tent's flap. She unzipped it a bit to see Aang, kneeling in front of her.

"Hey, Katara," he whispered, smiling.

Katara grabbed her blue North Face and slipped it on. She quietly exited the tent, stepping out into the night. "Hi," She whispered, looking around. "What are you doing, Aang?"

"I couldn't sleep," Aang admitted. "I couldn't stop thinking about you,"

Katara blushed and sat down by the fire pit with him, the embers still glowing in the dark coals. Katara held onto his hand and looked up at him, eyes shining. "I can't stop thinking about you either, Aang."

Aang cautiously leant down, touching his lips to hers ever so softly. Katara smiled into the kiss and pulled him closer, moving to sit across his lap. She felt his hands holding onto her hips, and she broke away from his lips to smile down at him. Fervently, she reconnected their kiss, and closed her eyes, feeling his hands wander.

Yue woke up with the slightest notion of dread. She saw that Katara was gone, and that the sun was barely risen. She slid on her boots and grabbed her coat before leaving the tent. The grey light of the fall morning was beautifully clean looking, but the brightness of it caused her to squint. Katara wasn't out here, either.

Yue sat down at the picnic table, seeing that Aang's gray hoodie was strewn across one of the logs used for sitting. Yue chuckled to herself before leaning her head against her hand. Everything about last night would have been perfect..._ Would have_.

* * *

Yue must have fallen asleep, because she later awoke to the sound of Aang and Katara shuffling out of his tent. Their whispering and quiet laughing was silenced as they saw Yue groggily watching them.

At breakfast, she couldn't bring herself to look at him. He didn't speak to her, either. Sokka was oblivious, but Katara knew something had happened. Katara held Aang's hand under the table. Last night _had_ been perfect for them.

Yue stuck by Katara's side throughout the morning, avoiding Zuko like a lovesick little girl.

"Yue... What happened with Zuko?" Katara whispered, eyes wide.

Yue bit her lip, glancing around them as they sat on the beach. "I tried talking to him Katara."

Katara nodded, "And? Then what?"

"Nothing!" Yue said, frowning, "Nothing happened! I... I don't understand why it's so hard for him to talk to me!"

Katara placed a sympathetic hand on her best friend's shoulder. "... Try talking to him again, Yue. You won't get anywhere if you don't talk."

Yue nodded solemnly, resting her head on her folded knees.

* * *

Night fell, and just like the night before, they all sat around the fire after they finished dinner. Yue sat across from Zuko, and she would peek at him from over the crackling, orange flames. They would cross gazes every so often, and Yue would quickly turn her gaze away, heart thudding in her chest.

Katara turned in first, then Sokka, and then Aang. Yue wouldn't get up without talking to him. The silence returned. But this quiet spell, unlike last night's, was full of promise, and not heartbreak.

Yue sat quietly, waiting for him to say something. She though he was getting up to leave, and she listened to him stand. But then, she felt him sitting beside her, his hand next to hers.

"Yue..." Zuko said, looking at her, eyes illuminated from the flames. "I'm so sorry about what happened last night. I... I really messed up and I guess what I'm trying to say is-"

Yue interrupted him by kissing him, feeling his tense body relax as she held his face in her hands. Yue finally pulled away, "I'm sorry too... I shouldn't have asked you that. It was a stupid question."

Zuko looked down at his feet and then swallowed, "Then I guess I have a stupid answer."

Yue's eyes widened, and she felt his fingers close over hers. He turned his gaze back to hers.

"I think I do love you," Zuko whispered, and kissed her again. She smiled into the kiss and felt his arm wrap around her shoulders.

"I love you too," Yue whispered against his lips, before she felt him close the gap between them.


End file.
